Multiple people died in a massive car pile-up in Missouri involving as many as 50 vehicles on Thursday on Interstate 57 in Charleston, officials said.
Mississippi County Coroner Terry Parker told KFVS-2 that there are five confirmed deaths in the pileup. A mobile morgue was set up at McMikle’s Funeral Home in Charleston, Missouri, he said.
The Mississippi County Sheriff’s Office, however, declined to release the number of fatalities, saying it is “not releasing that information at this time. Still an active accident scene with multiple agencies working to help all involved and clear the scene.”
Zach Bolden, the head of the Mississippi County EMS, told local media that between 40 and 50 vehicles were involved in the crash.
And Robert Hearnes, the head of the Charleston Department of Public Safety, told KFVS-2 in a video interview that due to thick fog, the “visibility was ... 50 feet,” and there were between “30 and 50 vehicles” involved in the crash.
The Missouri Department of Transportation said it closed I-57 in Mississippi County from the Missouri–Illinois border to the Mississippi River until Interstate 55.
“All road[s] leading into are being shut down due to traffic and emergency vehicles,” the Mississippi County Sheriff’s Office also warned on Facebook.
Other details about the incident were not provided.
